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Saturday, September 6, 2008

Without having been at the center of military action, Siquijor had not been spared by World War II. Japanese detachments occupied the island. Guerillas engaged in sabotage and the interaction wrought havoc on lives and properties.

At this period, Siquijor was briefly governed by Shunzo Suzuki, a Japanese civilian appointed by the Japanese Imperiol Forces until he was assassinated by the guerilla forces led by Iluminado Jumawanin Caipilan, Siquijor in October 1942. Mamor Fukuda took over the control of Siquijor from June 1943 until the Japanese forces abandoned the island when the liberation forces came in 1944.

At the outbreak of World War II, Siquijor, then a sub-province of Negros Oriental, was headed by Lieutenant Governor Nicolas Parami. Refusing to pledge allegiance to the Japanese Imperial Forces, Lt. Governor Parami was taken by Japanese soldiers from his residence at Poo, Lazi one evening and brought to the Military headquarters in Larena. He was never heard of again.

The Japanese announced their arrival in the island by heavy shelling. On November 10, 1942, Japanese warships started shelling Lazi town from Cang-abas Point. Properties and lives were lost. Then followed the enemy occupation. In Lazi, a garrison was established in the old Home Economics Building of the Central School.

In 1943, the Japanese Puppet Government appointed Sebastian Monera of San Juan as governor of Siquijor. His administration however was cut short when he was executed presumably by Filipino guerillas operating in the mountains of Siquijor.